


Follow the Thread

by AWritingNerd



Series: Hades Fics [9]
Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Character Death, M/M, Romantic or platonic you decide - Freeform, Sort Of, but this game doesn't really have permanent death XD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:28:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29986344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AWritingNerd/pseuds/AWritingNerd
Summary: Theseus knows the story of the Bull of Minos. Ariadne told him about her half-brother, Asterius, the one who was trapped in the labyrinth and forced to perform a job he didn't want. Theseus is prepared to sacrifice everything to get him out, and Asterius finally sees freedom.Alternatively:A little look at what would have happened if Theseus had died first.
Relationships: Asterius | The Minotaur & Theseus (Hades Video Game), Asterius | The Minotaur/Theseus (Hades Video Game)
Series: Hades Fics [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2168565
Kudos: 26





	Follow the Thread

The labyrinth was a dark and dreary place, and Theseus, who was used to light in the open places he had lived, found himself thrown off by the sudden transition to shadow. Each corner was filled with anticipation that was met with nothing but another empty hall, and as he led Ariadne’s thread around each curve, his body became more and more tense. He had gone into this as informed as he could be, fully aware of what awaited him, but despite that, he still found himself startled at the sight of the minotaur, looming in front of him at last. 

He had nothing to protect him, and nothing to defend himself with, but even without those things, he was acutely aware that he, as a skilled fighter, definitely had a chance against this minotaur, who was obviously malnourished, starved to weakness, eyes glazed with exhaustion. He couldn’t help but feel pity for the poor creature, the same pity he had felt when Ariadne had first told him about him.

He’d asked her, as they spoke of his escape plan, about the minotaur. She’d told him, rather reluctantly and after much pestering, that he was her half-brother, and that his name was Asterius. Asterius had been trapped in the labyrinth by King Minos since he was young, and the tributes of young men and women sent into the labyrinth were meant to feed him. Ariadne told him that he had to ‘put aside his pity for the creature and kill it to get home’, but while he had consoled her and assured her that he would, his mind had been significantly changed. 

Theseus had been unsure about his plan going into the slaying of the minotaur, part of him determined to kill the beast, and another wondering what would happen if he just...gave up. If he let the minotaur kill him. It wasn’t as if anyone would care; he’d lost contact with his mother, and his father was as cold to him as Demeter to the mortals in the winter. He knew he wasn’t going to get any love from those around him, and there was no true love between him and Ariadne, not really. He would not be missed, not really. 

Now, knowing what he did about Asterius, about his conditions in the labyrinth, Theseus no longer considered the first option, and the second option became an inevitable consequence to his new goal. Get the minotaur free. Help Asterius escape. Thanks to Ariadne’s thread, the minotaur would have a way to get out even after his death, and Theseus would finally be at peace, slain by the minotaur in an honorable death to save the creature’s life.

And now, the minotaur- Asterius- was in front of him, looking down at him with an expression of resignation, and Theseus recognized that expression so achingly well, had seen it on his own face in the mirror after being subjected to another apathy spell from his father. A face that had seen enough pain to be used to it, and even enough to accept it. No longer would the minotaur have to do that, however. 

The bull charged towards him, roaring with anger and fear, and Theseus stood still as he awaited his fate, only letting out a low groan as he was impaled by the end of one of the large masses of keratin. “Follow...the...thread...Aster...ius…” he huffed out, his voice strained. Thankfully, Asterius seemed to have heard it, if the bull’s eyes widening was any indication, and when he drew back, letting Theseus fall to the ground, the warrior could hear him shuffling towards where Theseus had just come from. Theseus sent a small prayer to the gods, begging them to help Asterius escape, and then his vision went black.

\----

Asterius hated this place. He hated the hunger, the terrified people that made their way through the maze as sacrifices from Minos, the isolation he felt from the rest of the world; everything about the labyrinth was a prison just for him, and in the end, he was nothing but a creature Minos could use to frighten people, one that didn’t deserve love or affection. 

Asterius had never seen the sun, or eaten anything but human flesh, and he didn’t deserve to.

He had become used to the screams of fright as the sacrifices came across him, when it really sunk in for them that there was no way out, that the maze had too many turns and dead ends to possibly escape from. Their shouts of agony as he ended their miserable lives never gave him satisfaction, only filling him with a sickened sense of dread and guilt.

However, the man in front of him was different. 

There was no sign of fear on this man’s face, only grim determination, and even though he had no weapon and nothing to defend himself with, Asterius could see that he was far more powerful than any he’d ever faced before. More powerful than Asterius himself for sure, evidenced by the state of his body- toned and muscled as a warrior’s- so unlike Asterius’ own malnourished one. 

This wouldn’t deter him from killing this man. He would not allow pity to get in the way of ending this man’s life, of granting him mercy that he wouldn’t get in the dark and unyielding depths of the labyrinth, where there was no escape to be seen. He would give the man the fate he deserved. The fate Asterius would never be worthy of. 

He roared out his pain, his agony, all of it echoing off the walls of the labyrinth as he charged forward to pierce the flesh of the man in front of him with the tip of his horn, ending him as swiftly as possible. The man did not die right away, and Asterius knew he must be in excruciating pain, but the man only smiled shakily, his voice strained as he spoke. 

“Follow...the...thread...Aster...ius…” 

Aster...ius?

Asterius. 

He knew Asterius’ name?

It was far too late to ask, he knew. The man was already fading, and as he let him down from his horn, he could see the man’s eyes drifting shut, though his face was content. Asterius didn’t hesitate to listen to the man’s last words, and as he turned to where the sacrifice had come from, he noticed the thread hanging there, twisted around the edge of the hall. 

He could escape. With this thread, he could get out of the labyrinth. He could leave this prison, his own personal hell, free for the rest of his life. Asterius could hardly believe he’d stumbled across this much luck in so little time, but nevertheless, he followed the thread, and when he stumbled through the entrance of the labyrinth, the only presence there was of his half-sister Ariadne, who looked at him with an expression of horrified grief. “What did you do to him?” she breathed. “What did you do to Theseus?” even as she asked him, Asterius knew she already knew the answer to her question, and they both looked away from each other. 

“Just go,” Ariadne murmured, voice cold. Asterius obeyed.

For the first time, Asterius was allowed to live. Since he couldn’t remember the childhood he’d had before being sent into the labyrinth, he ate his first fruit, and his first vegetable, and he slept in his first bed in a run-down and broken farmhouse. He didn’t live in luxury, and it certainly wasn’t a perfect existence, but despite that, Asterius had never had anything better. 

The hunters of King Minos did eventually find him, and he was sent to his death, but he thanked the gods that he wasn’t sent to the labyrinth, that they had taken that small mercy and sent him to the afterlife instead of the prison he had escaped from. When his vision faded, and he left the land of the living, it was with a feeling of contentment, much like the one he’d seen on the face of the man- Theseus- as he bled out in the labyrinth. 

It was all over.

\----

Theseus had grown fond of the splendors of Elysium, of the thriving life there, though he knew it wasn’t truly life, and the arena there, where he could fight other heroes when his day got too relaxing for his soul to handle. He wasn’t sure about the other heroes, who only remembered him for all the things he hadn’t achieved in his short life, but he found companions in some of them, and all the while, he would think of Asterius. 

He wondered if the bull had gotten out of the labyrinth, and if he was happy when he had. He wondered if the entire thing would have gone different if he had spoken up, if he had at least attempted to convince Asterius to follow without killing him. Would they have split up into their respective lives if he had lived? Would they go off together? He would never know, but he contented himself with the knowledge that he had given Asterius a chance. Whether he took that chance and made it out was entirely on Asterius himself and the gods.

Then, he heard the rumors. He’d heard them when his father had committed suicide, and the kingdom of Athens had been left temporarily leaderless, as told by some of the heroes who had been in Athens. Other heroes had heard more news; the Bull of Minos had died at the hands of Minos’ soldiers. 

Theseus found himself relieved that Asterius had not been taken back to the labyrinth, that he had made it out and had a chance to see life before his own was ended, but he was unnerved by the lack of any minotaur in Elysium. Where was Asterius? Surely not in Asphodel; he was no normal soul. And definitely not in Tartarus. Many of the heroes here had killed, just as Asterius did, and the Bull of Minos did it for mercy instead of revenge or to overcome an obstacle. Asterius deserved the paradise of this land, and yet...he wasn’t here. 

It took a few coins to convince the boatman of the Styx, Charon, to assist him in getting around, but when he’d told the Chthonic god about Asterius, and his quest to find him, Charon had taken him to a place called Erebus. A place, the boatman explained in that wordless way of his, for monsters. Theseus found himself furious.

“Asterius is here?” he asked as they sailed up to the edge of one chamber. Charon nodded, smoke flowing from his mouth in a steady stream as he raised an arm to point at a black form hunched over with their back to them. Theseus recognized the familiar dark fur of the bull who had ended his life, and while such a thought should have deterred him, it only reassured him. 

“I see. What would it take for me to bring him to Elysium?” 

\----

Asterius heard the footsteps before he saw their maker, and when he turned around, eyes wide with recognition, he found the very man he’d least expected to see, especially in a place such as this. “...It’s you,” he said simply, standing to face the man- Theseus- hoping there was no ill will held there. Luckily, Theseus didn’t seem angry at all, his face shining with joy. 

“It’s good to see you, my dear bull! I’m here to take you to Elysium!” Theseus proclaimed, grinning. Asterius found himself blinded by the white of the man’s teeth, and then blinded by the content of his words. 

“Elysium…? That is the land for heroes. I am not a hero.” 

Theseus grimaced. “You’re not the only one who thinks so,” Theseus admitted. “But I do not, and after I convinced Hades of that, he allowed me to take you to Elysium.” Theseus brightened again, his grim mood forgotten, and his hand outstretched. 

“Let’s go, my friend! Elysium awaits!”

Asterius didn’t know what his fate would be in Elysium, and he had no idea why Theseus seemed so dead-set on helping him, but he would not overlook the opportunity he was being given. An afterlife of paradise with the man who saved him was a worthy one indeed. One Asterius could finally believe he deserved.


End file.
